Thursday, January 30, 2014

So, a local news station is going gaga over National School Choice week. Stories that would normally be about "schools" have become about "choice in education."

I've stayed away from that bruhaha because there's no story. The National School Choice Week is a publicity campaign designed to promote legislation intended to privatize public education. Such as charter school and vouchers.

Don't get me wrong, some charters are great. At the local level, we have some in the hands of community members who are really doing a good job. I give them plenty of ink when they have real news.

But the movement is general is aimed at sucking public dollars from public schools. Privatizers will tell you "public schools are failing," then will give little money to schools to accomplish their tasks, and when the goals set by these reformers are not met, they will deplore with a grin in their faces 'I told you the schools are failing. We should have choices, like vouchers and charters."

It doesn't help that there's districts in severe need of help, but that's another story.

California's spending per pupil just dropped to 49th in the country. It's now 28 percent below the national average. And I don't care what people say about "throwing money at a problem." I've never seen a problem that was not fixed -- or at least comforted -- by money.

Public education is not a problem in affluent districts. When was the last time you heard anybody complain about the public education in Pacific Grover or Carmel?

Many of the "reformers" who want to see vouchers start pointing fingers to unions and say "they're the problem. They're getting a raise. Education should be about the kids, not the adults." When the money goes to private institutions, there's no unions to give anybody trouble. Read this piece by Joseph Di Salvo of the Santa Clara County Board of Education and see what I mean.

So what the choice movement is really about is privatizing public education. You get a charter, a private-like school where you can only get in by lottery, or a voucher for a private school, what you're doing basically is taking money from the public system (from the unions) and take it into the private realm. It's that simple.

That's why there's so much private industry vested in this movement. That's why the Walton Family Foundation -- Walmart anybody? -- is such a huge supporter.

If you want to get a real education on whose behind the National School Choice Week is really about, I recommend this piece.

Attention high school students: have you ever pondered the following question?

“Why is it important that we have news media that are independent of the government?”

Believe it or not, it's a question that's crucial to my career, so I want to invite all high school students in Monterey County to think about it. And write about it.

And if you'd like, I'll visit your classroom to talk it over. As long as you enter the contest sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.

SPJ sponsors this contest because it wants to increase high school students' knowledge and understanding of the importance of independent media to our lives.

All students enrolled in grades 9-12 in U.S. public, private and home schools within the United States may enter. Students must submit original work and have a sponsoring teacher sign the contest entry form.
Essays should be 300-500 words and must include an entry form. Entries may be typed or handwritten but must be double-spaced.

Three are awards are given: First Place: $1,000 scholarship; Second Place: $500 scholarship; Third Place: $300 scholarship.

Each submission to the High School Essay contest must be accompanied by a $5 entry fee. Entrants may pay by check or credit card and should indicate the preferred payment option on the entry form. Checks should be made out to the Society of Professional Journalists. Entries submitted without the required entry fee will be disqualified. All entries should be postmarked by March 7, 2014.

Monterey Bay Charter School will host an open house from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 8. on its campus on 1004 David Ave., Pacific Grove.

Enrollment applications for the placement lottery will be accepted through March 1st. Open slots will be filled based upon the random drawing held Wednesday, March 19 at 7pm. Wait list positions will also be established at the drawing.

When administrators with Oasis Public Charter School told parents they wanted to eliminate the 7th and 8th grades, a reason cited was the lack of proper credentials for the teachers.

Several parents told me this. I reported it in the newspaper -- not as a fact, but as something parents were told, apparently on several occasions. I should have made that clearer.

Principal Juanita Perea denies having ever said that. Then, administrators sent a note with students saying they had demanded we "retract our statements."

Just for the record, I was not asked to retract anything. My reporting was accurate: parents were told their teachers did not have proper credentials. Since Juanita Perea says she did not say that, it's a mystery where the parents heard this information.

But for the record: the teachers DO have the proper credentials. You can look up their names yourself here.

Hamish Tyler, director of the Media Center for Education, Arts and Technology at MCOE, said California's top education official will tour the Millennium Charter High School sometime this week.

Tom Torlakson is a big promoter of career education, and since Millennium's built as a career technical school, I can see why he'd want to highlight its model.

The school's growing so rapidly it needs more space, Tyler told me last week. He's still in talks with the city of Salinas for the possibility to lease Sherwood Hall in North Main to house some of the students there. No decisions have been made yet, but these things have a tendency to move quickly.

Take a look. It didn't take long for the COSCA group to come up with the "brochure" they'll use to recruit a new superintendent for the Monterey Peninsula Unifed School District. Here it is. It's scheduled to be approved at Tuesday's regular board meeting.

Although Patrick Sayne from the COSCA group told me the district would have no problem recruiting a top administrator, I hear privately the consultants were saying otherwise. The district's reputation is not stellar, and it's going to take a good compensation package to lure anyone to the job. Plus, the district's problems are such it's going to take someone with experience cleaning up messes to really take on the job.

Either that or the consultants are massaging public opinion for the big salary that will need to be paid for the next supt.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Parents of some middle school students at Oasis Charter school were pleased to hear their board members will take another month to decide the fate of the 7th and 8th grades.

Oasis Principal Juanita Perea told them recently she wanted to close the middle school grades to make room for a lab so the school can focus on teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. She made the proposal to the board in December, but she was told the conversion could wait. At Wednesday's board meeting, parents were told the board would take another month to decide whether to eliminate 7th and 8th grades starting 2014-15.

"Many parents talked and we all said the same thing, 'Give us a chance until 2015/2016 to start a new middle school in a different location,'" said Ehab Ali in an email. "We are willing to do the research, invest our time/effort/energy and experiences to make this happen."

Ali and other parents will meet this coming weekend to explore the possibility of opening up a middle charter school.

Parents have reported Perea has told them the teachers are not qualified to teach middle school, and that's one of the reasons the closure of the middle school is required. However, the teachers do have the appropriate credentials.

"To our surprise, last night Juanita said "we don't have financial problems, and also our teachers are qualified to teach k-8." which contradicts what she told us before," Ali said.

I asked Perea if she'd ever told parents the teachers were not qualified to teach middle school, and this is what she replied:

"To the best of my recollection and if my memory does not fail me, I can
say with great certainty that I never made such statement. However, if
the families interpreted anything I said to mean that, I would like to
clarify it for them and reassure them that our teachers are highly
qualified. Any community member can look up teacher credentials at the
California Commission on Teacher Credentialing."

Indeed, you can look up whether a K-12 teacher or administrator has California credentials here.

So, the parents wonder: if the teachers are qualified, and there are not financial problems facing the charter, what's the reason behind proposing the closure of the middle school?

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Juan Sandoval, the Alisal employee who's trying to recall Salinas City Councilman José Castañeda, has served recall papers for Alisal Union School District board member Meredith Ibarra.

And he has papers ready to serve Castañeda a third time for another recall effort, he said Friday.

Sandoval served Ibarra with recall papers at the Alisal board meeting Wednesday evening. He was sure to have people on hand to record the event.

Sandoval will need to take several steps before the recall can proceed. His second attempt to recall Castañeda fizzled earlier this month when Salinas City Clerk found he did not have enough valid signatures to proceed.

" I have not been able to serve him, but I have the signatures ready," Sandoval told me about his paperwork against Castañeda.

Sandoval said he'll be able to handle two recall petitions at the same time, and that he does not want to wait for Ibarra to serve out her full term.

"As a parent, I'm concerned for my daughter. (Ibarra) keeps being disruptive, she does not understand what it means to be a board member. It's all a political game for her."

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Robert Percell, a 9th grader at Seaside High School, made his solo debut performance with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra on January 18 in Santa Clara. Seaside High music teacher Theresa Hruby was there, and sent this picture of Percell playing.

"Robert's performance went exceptionally well. He played beautifully," she told me in an email message.

Robert began playing cello at age 5, and he has been a member of the San Jose Youth Symphony since age 8. He recently auditioned and was accepted into a National Honor Orchestra and will play in Carnegie Hall this February.

My colleague Dennis Taylor is preparing a story about Robert that will appear in the print edition of the Herald sometime soon. Keep an eye out for it. In the meantime, congratulations, Robert! All that hard work is paying off!

Colleen Eagleson is the new principal at Notre Dame High School, a college preparatory high school for young women. Eagleson was hired after an in-depth search that included representatives of the Notre Dame community. She began her tenure at Notre Dame in the 2013 school year.

Eagleson, 42, previously worked at Archbishop Riordan High School, a college preparatory high school for young men in San Francisco. She holds a masters of arts in Catholic School Leadership from the Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership and an administrative credential from the University of San Francisco. She has a bachelor's degree in urban studies and single-subject teaching credential from Loyola Marymount University. She has recently received Instructional Technologist Certificate from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.

“In the few months I have been at Notre Dame, I have been extremely impressed by this amazing community and I am honored to be a part of it," Eagleson said. "I hope to build on the already incredible traditions that exist and continue the important mission of the school.”

The National Steinbeck Center needs volunteers to be one-day writing coaches for their Steinbeck Young Authors event. The day of writing takes place Monday, March 3, from 10:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. at the Center, One Main Street, Salinas.

The center needs about 100 coaches. Volunteers receive training, lunch, and the rewarding experience of helping a young person develop his/her writing skills.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The California Board of Education is scheduled to vote Thursday on a set of requirements on how to spend funds allocated to school districts based on the Local Control Funding Formula. Enacted last year, the Local Control Funding Formula will give more money to schools that have higher proportion of low income children, English learners, and students in foster care.

There's been a lot of debate about how expenditures of the money should be tracked and how results should be measured. If you want to read what the state board will be considering tomorrow, click here. Judging by the hearing in November, and by the fact that the board gave a time certain to hear the item, there's probably going to be a lot of public comment.

I also ran into this story of young people asked how they wanted to see the money spent. Surprisingly, or maybe not so, their requests have nothing or little to do with academics.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Patrick Sayne of The Cosca Group, the consulting firm that's helping trustees with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District find the next superintendent, led a meeting today in Marina to find out what community members want in their next top leader.

The meeting was sparsely attended, not surprisingly. There were only nine people in the audience, who included two trustees, a district employee, and Marina's recreation and cultural services director Terry Siegrist. Still, the views from the audience were telling. When asked, what's good about the district, the first answer that sprung up was: location. Yes, MPUSD is located in one of the most beautiful spots in the world.

And what else???

It was Trustee Diane Creasey who said its diversity and its "improving API scores" that were good.

And what are its challenges? Financial. Low academic standards and low achievement. Resources are not equally shared among the learning communities. Facilities are outdated.

Lastly, Sayne asked participants what they wanted to see in a superintendent, and they came up with 12 desired qualities: innovative, visionary, outside of the education field (bad idea: read my blog on that one), great communicator, visible to students and parents. When the qualities had to be ranked, the top vote getters were: the finalist needs to work in partnership with trustees, he or she needs to build community partnerships, and he or she will know how to pick quality administrators.

And so the wheel keeps turning. There will be two more meetings, one on Wednesday at Seaside High, and one on Thursday at Monterey High.

Eleven students from Carmel Unified will be playing at state-wide events after being selected from a pool of thousands of students.

Four string players from Carmel High have been accepted to the All State High School Orchestra: Peter Mellinger and Steve Yoo, violin; Edie Ellison, viola; and Ari
Freedman, cello.

Another four string players from Carmel Middle School were accepted to the All State Junior High Orchestra, Kenshi Husted and Eli Willis, violin; Ryan Porch, viola; and Caleb
Kim, cello.

The All - State
Honor Orchestras will be held in conjunction with the California Band Directors
Association annual convention
in Fresno on February 20-23. The musicians were selected from over 1,500 student auditions state wide.

Not to be undone, three wind instrument players from Carmel Middle School were selected to play in the All
Northern Honor Band of the Northern California Band Association: Ihlara Gray, flute; Ealaph Tabbaa, basoon; Theo
Colon, tuba. The NCBA All Northern Honor Band, which will perform
January 19 in Stockton, CA.

It's very exciting to hear we have so much talent in our schools, but then again, we're not surprised! Congratulations to all the musicians, their teachers and parents. Play on!

Friday, January 10, 2014

On Tuesday, trustees with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District will consider two charter school proposals. For starters, they will have a hearing to gauge support for the Monterey Global Vision Charter School proposed by Vadim Nazarenko.

Last August, Nazarenko proposed the California Classical Language Academy Charter School, which was soundly rejected. Judging by preliminary review of the latest proposal, it's likely the Global Vision Charter will meet the same fate of the Classical Language.

Trustees will also decide whether to accept staff recommendations and give the go-ahead to the creation of the Monterey Academy of Oceanographic Studies charter. In other words, they'll decide whether to allow the successful program to split from Monterey High and go its own way.

It will be interesting to see if the board sticks to its independence streak, or if they go with administrator's recommendation.

I've been thinking a lot about what the split would mean for Monterey, but I think my fears are best expressed by a letter I received a couple of days ago from a reader, a MAOS parent. I get the concerns from MAOS parents who want to make sure their children get the classes they need, but what about the other high school students?

Edward Johnson, a Monterey High Alumn, put it better than I ever could. He wrote this to the trustees.

Up until recently, I was strongly against MAOS becoming a dependent charter school. But after hearing the impassioned speeches of those in favor of it, I have softened my opinion. However, I am still unsettled about what it means for those “left behind”.What do I mean? I am talking about those MHS students that are good students but maybe not up to MAOS caliber. I am talking about those students waiting to blossom. Will there be no top tier students in their classes to aspire to be like or to engage in an intellectual debate? Will there be no elite level teachers because they have left to teach the best and brightest in the MAOS dependent charter? Will there be a paucity of interested/educated MHS parents to push what is best for their kids.Again, I believe that a dependent charter would be beneficial for the clearly identified gifted students in MAOS. The more pressing question for MPUSD/society is how to educate the MHS student body as a whole. Daily intellectual exchange between students is important. Quality teaching is important. Stimulating course work is important. Why? There are future scientists, doctors, lawyers and teachers in the mainstream student body waiting to be discovered, motivated and challenged. Additionally, the mainstream students will form the backbone of the workforce and society. They must be well educated.I was a late bloomer in high school would not have been selected for MAOS as a 9th grader. But I was fortunate to have teachers like Mr. Steve Clark (eventual MAOS founder) and be in classes that had “smart” kids mixed in with mainstream students. At that time, there was no MAOS. I became inspired by the study of biology and made my way to college and beyond.I can support a MAOS dependent charter school. However, we must also ensure a rich and challenging educational experience for all MHS students. As additional charter schools seek approval, the MPUSD Board cannot leave behind the interests of the mainstream students. Almost 60 years ago, Brown v. Board of Education found that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”. We must take care not to create separate facilities (schools) that lead to inequality.These issues are complex and do not lend themselves to easy answers. I trust that the MPUSD Board will research, ponder and do what is best--morally and fiscally.Respectfully,Edward Johnson, MD
MHS Class of 1978
Current MAOS Parent

High school students from throughout Monterey County may begin submitting their poetry to the 2014 Monterey County High School Poetry Awards sponsored by The Cherry Center for the Arts.

The poetry awards recognize and promote excellence in high school poets and to develop an interest in creative expression through language. Certificates of merit, cash awards and books of poetry will be awarded at a reading and ceremony honoring the student poets on April 26th, at the Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific Street, Monterey.

Additionally, an anthology celebrating the work of contributing students will be published by the Cherry Center. The poetry awards are held in conjunction with the Cherry Center’s annual high school art exhibit, Thinking Out Loud.

Rules:

1. Submission must be original poetry in English, Spanish or a combination of both.
2. The author must be presently enrolled in a Monterey County High School.
3. No more than three poems allowed per author, and no poem may be more than 40 lines in length.
4. There are no restrictions as to content, style, form or metrical device.
5. All entries must be typed. Student's name, address and phone number must be printed on each poem.

Poets should retain a copy of their poem.
Entries must be postmarked by March 15th and mailed to the Cherry Center for the Arts, PO Box 863, Carmel, CA 93921.

Honorees will be awarded certificates of merit, cash awards and books of poetry during a ceremony on Saturday, April 26th, at the Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific Street, Monterey.

Also, an anthology celebrating the work of contributing students will be published by the Cherry Center. The poetry awards are held in conjunction with the Cherry Center’s annual high school art exhibit, Thinking Out Loud.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Soon after officials with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District announced a round of community meetings to gather information for the next superintendent, the district's naysayers lifted their heads.

The trustees are posturing, said the anonymous email I pointed to in my story about trustees in today's paper.

"This board and previous incarnations have a sketchy record when it comes to hiring superintendents, which is no surprise," the email reads. "It is an exceptionally hard job and there is a shortage of qualified candidates nationwide. The job is so political and school district politics so mercurial that even a supremely qualified superintendent will likely encounter career-threatening storms early and often."

The email then describes the district's effort in finding a superintendent "a spectacular flop because of a seriously inadequate vetting process."

And the email goes on and on. You get the idea.

The writer's ultimate advice is a good one: trustees should probably get advice from personnel experts on how to evaluate the potential finalist. No quibble with that one.

What I'd like to take issue with is a) the tone of the email, and b) the overall implication that this board is inept and misguided.

We're not going to get anywhere if this district continues with its well-documented habit of throwing stones and hiding the hand. This district is not going to move forward if we continue with the snark, the bitterness, and the fingerpointing.

Yes, mistakes were made in April, and I believe the people responsible have shown a fair amount of contrition. Now, can we move on?

In fact, several of the trustees who were involved in the process have actually moved on -- in case you have not noticed. In fact, we have three new members on the board. THREE. Two of them are not educators by profession -- Tim Chaney and Tom Jennings. Alana Myles, the third one, ended her career as a teacher but began in the insurance industry, which means she has experience in areas other than education.

Debra Gramesbacher is not a teacher. Jon Hill, a former school superintendent, is now a personnel analyst for the Monterey County Health Department. Diane Creasey is a nurse.

You may want to quibble with this, but we now have a board that is NOT dominated by people whose SOLE experience is in education -- as the email claims.

And they are decent people. I don't have an I.Q. measuring stick, but they seem pretty smart people to me. And most importantly, they all seem genuinely concerned about our schools and our children. About education.

Now, can we all give them a break and support them and hope we all get it right this time? I'm pretty confident the board as an institution got so badly burnt last time the members who lived to tell are threading extremely carefully this time.

Enough with the snark, people. Let's give some constructive criticism. How about that?

For starters, attend those community meetings next week. You can find the schedule here and here.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Soledad Union School District was one of 67 districts in California to earn a $50,000 grant to develop a program to help their high school students advance in their studies.

The money is supposed to help districts establish cutting edge programs to help students develop "21st century skills," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said.

Soledad applied for two grants, so Assistant Superintendent Jorge Guzman is not sure which one is getting the money: if the district's existing health related career pathway, or the one focused on agricultural industry.

The grant is for planning purposes, and once the planing stage is completed, the district could be eligible to apply for more funds.

Career and technical education is all the rage right now, and Salinas Valley Memorial Health Care System has also a new program to help young people explore whether there's a future for them in the health care industry.

Salinas Valley Memorial has partnered with Career Exploring, a program to introduce high school and college students to careers through business mentors. Staff and volunteers at SVMHS will serve as mentors and program advisors to students who want to learn about opportunities in the healthcare field through hands-on activities, leadership development programs and community service projects.

The Exploring program at SVMHS will conduct an informational meeting for interested students on Tuesday, January 14 at 5 p.m. To register for this meeting or for more information contact the Volunteer Services Department at 831-755-0772 or volunteer@svmh.com.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

José Castañeda replied to my requests for comment on a story I wrote in today's paper about Juan Sandoval's efforts to recall him, but his reply didn't come in time to have more of it included in the paper, so I decided to post it in its entirety on my blog.

Here it is. Enjoy!

I am continuing to remain focused on the main issues that plague our city such as reducing gang violence, assisting our vulnerable homeless population in getting much needed services, and
working towards increasing jobs in our community by bringing in much
needed support for small businesses.The average voter should know that much of the action taken against me derives from the
old status quo Latino guard of political factions within Salinas.I commend Mr. Sandoval in his valiant efforts to become involved in the politics of our
community. Maybe that energy and commitment would better serve our city if he focused on helping the masses rather than spend all of his time trying to take one of his own down.We could really use his energy and expertise to help us reduce youth gang violence andwith the Juvenile Hall Project. The Alisal population is paying
outrageous ALCO water bills for water that is eroding homeowners and
renters pipes as well as water faucets,maybe Mr. Sandoval can help campaign for better services within our East Salinas Community. I would be happy to work with Mr. Sandoval in these
efforts.I pledge to continue to be an outspoken advocate, to challenge the status quo, and to
continue asking the difficult questions that will create the change we need to move our\
community forward.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Hope your holidays were warm and enjoyable! Mine were groovy. I'm a very lucky person.

And we begin the new year with dates to move forward the search for a new superintendent for the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. Like the first time around, district officials are giving the public opportunity to express what they want to see in the new supt via two methods.

Individual or group appointments will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Jan 8 and 9, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the district's office. If you'd like to meet with consulting firm representatives and tell them what your expectations are, make an appointment with Katherine Ruiz and 645-1204 or kruiz@mpusd.k12.ca.us. Individual meetings will take 15 minutes.
No appointments needed for community meetings. All will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. in the cafeterias.